Barkley admits he received money from agents at Auburn

If not for the NCAA’s four-year statute of limitations, Auburn might be vacating some victories from one of its few decent eras of basketball.

Charles Barkley was discussing Reggie Bush’s decision to return the Heisman Trophy during an interview with Dan Patrick on Friday morning when the conversation turned to his own college career. The always outspoken former Auburn star admitted that he too received money from agents during college in the 1980s, though Barkley described it as “chump change” that he paid back once he signed his first NBA contract.

“If a guy wants to borrow money from an agent because he’s poor, what is wrong with that?” Barkley said. “Nobody can tell me what is wrong with that. I got money from agents when I was in college and I went in the ’80s. Most of the players I know borrowed money from agents. The colleges don’t give us anything. If they give us a pair of sneakers, they get in trouble. Why can’t an agent lend me some money and I’ll pay him back when I graduate?”